The response to my guest blog over at Simply Solo (In Defense of the Beta Man) along with some things I read on a couple blogs recently got me thinking about “The Friend Zone.” You know, that place men talk about hating being put by the women in their lives, like it’s some dread purgatory from which there is no escape.

I don’t think it’s always like that, or that simple. Let’s talk about The Friend Zone. [NOTE: Much of what I’m writing here is assuming that the male/female friends in question aren’t married to or significantly involved with other people. That changes the dynamics!]

Sure, for some (alpha) men and their relationships with women, there’s no worse fate than to be put into the FZ. For them, women aren’t friends, they’re prizes to be won and the prize should include some sort of sexual contact. If you’ve been put in the FZ, then there’s no chance of sexual contact and so there is no prize. The Friend Zone is the polar opposite of the end zone, game over man!

For beta men, as I talked about in my blog post, spending time with a woman he cares about is the prize. Sure, would he like to end the night with a roll in the hay? Of course, he’s still a man! A woman’s body holds endless fascination for a man and we’d like nothing better than to be given the chance to explore it. But a beta man is often interested in a woman for a lot more reasons than just sex, so being in the FZ means still getting to spend time with the woman. 90% of what you want is still a very good deal, right?